The event will host various content tracks as well as different talk formats. There are also three distinct groups of speakers.

Who should submit?

We are looking for submissions from the #vCommunity. This includes anybody that doesn’t represent their employer during the UserCon. So consultants, engineers, technical trainers, IT Managers and Directors, etc. are all welcome.

A special note to those working for a sponsoring vendor

Please try to get a speaking slot through your sponsorship agreement. Only if your talk has high relevance to the UserCon and you are not representing your employer (i.e. not doing a product / sales pitch), are you welcome to submit via this CfP.

A second special note for VMware employees

you are welcome to submit through this CfP, as we will work with VMware to select sessions for the VMware slots.

Talk formats

1. Break-out session: the classical ‘big room, lots of powerpoint’ session.
2. Lightning Talks: shorter sessions (15-20 minutes) with a smaller audience. Good for inexperienced speakers, but also good for more audience interaction. The preferred way to deliver community content.

Speakers

1. Community: people volunteering their own time to be there and prepare a presentation. Usually works for a partner in the ecosystem. Wants to learn how to present or represents their company. Does not represent a vendor or sponsor during their talk. This may include VMware and Sponsor employees that do not represent their employer during their talk.
2. VMware: people that work for VMware (the main sponsor for the event) and present on a VMware topic, representing VMware during their talk.
3. Sponsor: people that work for any of our sponsors and represent their employer during the talk.

Tracks

We are looking for the following topics:

1. Technical sessions on topics that are relevant for the VMware ecosystem. Tracks we are likely to include are: Datacenter & Cloud, Digital Workspace & EUC, Networking & Security, DevOps & Automation and Cloud-Native Applications.
2. Cloud transformation; tell us about your cloud transformation story, moving from traditional on-prem to cloud.
3. Personal and Professional Development topics, such as career development, dealing with burnout, impostor syndrome, anxiety
4. Organizational development, such as culture, DevOps, multi-disciplinary teams, automation and removing toil.

Submission Guidelines

1. Be concise but add enough detail to show why your session is worth it.
2. Multiple entries are welcome.
3. Attempt to not give details to who you are, we prefer to judge based on content.
4. Submissions must be made by one of the presenters; we do not accept proposals submitted on behalf of others.
5. All presentations must conform to the code of conduct.
6. Be mindful of your audience’s varied backgrounds. Not everyone can stomach a technical deep-dive.
7. We encourage local and new presenters to submit. If you feel you want guidance or coaching in preparation of your talk, please inform us.
8. We want to hear all voices, including those that may speak less frequently at similar events. We are interested in your unique experience.
9. We will consider talks that have already been presented elsewhere, but we prefer talks that the local area isn’t likely to have already seen.
10. We like stories over theory. Examples of what your organization has done are fantastic.
11. You don’t need to write out the entire talk in your abstract, but please provide sufficient detail for the selection committee to get a feel for what your talk will include. Show, don’t tell.
12. Avoid purely technical talks. Talk about technology or tools in the context in which they are used, and relate them to the business or cultural problems that they solve.
13. Absolutely no vendor pitches! Those are reserved for sponsor talks, and do not have to be submitted via the CfP process.

If you need help with travel & expenses, contact us at leaders@nlvmug.com